The Land of the Free

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?


President Obama has said that he does not favor our National Anthem because of the violence in the lyrics.  When I hear the anthem my thoughts are not of baseball, team stats, picnics, or fireworks.  My thoughts run to our history and the meaning of the words. 

In 1812 (200 years to this year) the British had just burned our capital city of Washington D.C. and now that same force with even more firepower was headed for the port city of Baltimore.  Fort McHenry was all that prevented that city from being burned to the ground.

The Fort Commander would not surrender or leave his post even in the face of overwhelming odds.  He ordered two new flags for the fort in anticipation of the battle, along with other fortifications. The British fleet used the newest in war technology, artillery shells that would explode spreading shrapnel to better wound and kill, and the latest in ship launched rockets.  All this aimed at Fort McHenry and the newly made American flag.  The attack began in the morning and lasted through out the night.  The only way the people of Baltimore and other observers knew our soldiers were still there defending them was by the light of the attacking rockets and the artillery shells bursting in air.   When dawn came the Commander ordered the smaller storm flag lowered and the larger parade flag raised.  The larger flag showed the enemy that we were still there and their efforts to defeat us had failed.  

The enemy retreated from Baltimore defeated but they planned another major attack at another U.S. city, New Orleans.  That my friends is another story of Americans fighting overwhelming odds, pirates, citizen soldiers, and the revenge of the commanding officer.

So during the Libertyville & Mundelein 4th of July festivals when the National Anthem is played remember the brave defenders of Fort McHenry.